*A new H3N2 flu variant emerging this summer is raising concerns among health officials as the Northern Hemisphere enters an unusually early and severe flu season.
The strain is already triggering outbreaks in Canada and the U.K., sending patients to hospitals and raising concerns about an unusually early flu wave. “Since it emerged, it’s rapidly spreading and predominating in some countries so far in the Northern Hemisphere,” Dr. Wenqing Zhang, head of the World Health Organization’s Global Respiratory Threats Unit, said, NBC News reports.
The variant has “acquired 7 new mutations over the summer,” explained Antonia Ho, a consultant in infectious diseases at Scotland’s University of Glasgow. That, she said, “means the virus is quite different to the H3N2 strain included in this year’s vaccine.”
Britain is bracing for a difficult winter season, as influenza infections have already reached three times last year’s levels, reports National Health Service chief James Mackey. Meanwhile, Canada is witnessing increased H3N2 transmission, and Japan faces what specialists describe as an unusually early flu outbreak of historic proportions.
Scroll to continue reading
“These are not good signs,” said virologist Angela Rasmussen of the University of Saskatchewan, underscoring the potential severity of this early H3N2 wave.
According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the emerging H3N2 variant has been detected worldwide and accounts for roughly one-third of all A (H3N2) genetic samples uploaded to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data from May through November 2025, with close to 50% of European Union submissions containing this strain.
Those facing the highest risk of serious complications include seniors aged 65 and older, expectant mothers, individuals with weakened immune systems, and patients living with long-term conditions that impact cardiac, respiratory, metabolic, or muscular function.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: FDA to Present Data Linking COVID Vaccine to 25 Child Deaths Amid Growing Debate
Sign up for our Free daily newsletter HERE.
